Wednesday

May 20, 2020 at 3:38 PM

Not a single Ohio senator voted to agree with changes made by their House colleagues to limit the executive power of the governor and health director.

The proposed changes, which came before the Ohio Senate on Wednesday, would have limited Ohio Department of Health orders to 14 days and required any extensions to be approved by a legislative committee made up of both House and Senate members. The measure failed 0 to 32.

The Republicans who voted against the amendments to Senate Bill 1 fell into two camps: Those who support the idea but think the House made a few mistakes during drafting, and those who disagreed with the entire idea.

Republican Sen. Peggy Lehner, the former president of Ohio Right to Life, was among the latter.

“I hear an argument that is just really confusing me, and it’s that personal liberty should be put ahead of life. For years, I and many of the sponsors of Senate Bill 1 ... have said we must put life first over and above personal liberties of any kind. Suddenly. that argument has gone out the window,” she said.

“ I don’t get it. I can’t support it. And I am going to continue to put life above all of those other issues that have been talked about today.”

Lehner was one of a handful of Republican senators who wore a mask, and she chastised her colleagues for having the “arrogance” to assume they know what should be done to protect people during a pandemic “without talking to epidemiologists, medical professionals and people who do this for a living.”

The proposal passed the House without any public testimony.

Sen. Kristina Roegner, R-Hudson, told her colleagues that she wished she could concur “because I think time is of the essence,” but “there were a couple of mistakes that do need to be fixed.”

For example, the way the House wrote its amendment every Health Department order could be subject to the 14-day limit. And the section giving Ohioans the standing to sue could also give people looking to extend an order the right to bring that issue before a judge.

“I would encourage both chambers to keep this as a priority, to keep this as a focus,” Roegner said.

After the House passed the measure along a mostly party-line vote, Ohio Right to Life cautioned senators of unintended consequences that could harm its initiatives.

Democrats objected the number of bills from Republicans seeking to cut the power of Acton and/or Gov. Mike DeWine during the coronavirus pandemic.

"My Republican colleagues are aiming to take power from Ohio's Health Department during a health crisis and give it themselves. That is troubling enough, but the sheer number of these bills shows that their actions are purely for political gain," said Senate Minority Leader Kenny Yuko.

astaver@dispatch.com

@annastaver

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